September 26, 2014

Convenience vs. Cost

Ordered from macys.com on Sunday, delivered to my door on Thursday. Totally worth $10 in shipping.

How do you feel about it? I was always a lowest cost no matter what kinda person, but lately I've come to realize that fifty extra cents is not going to make a difference. It will if it applies to everything all the time, but if I need milk and I'm at Safeway and it's 60 cents more than it is at the commissary and I won't be at the commissary for another couple of days…I'm just going to buy the milk.

A year ago, I would've waited and bought it at the commissary. A year ago, my day to day driving radius was about 5 miles.

In the last few months, I've learned that time is money. Now, we concentrate on consolidating and making the most of our trips. Wal-mart is in one part of town (the one we go to anyway), the commissary is on base so I usually don't make special trips there, and the stores we like to shop at are on the other end of town. Colorado Springs is ridiculously spread out. We only live 20 minutes from the nearest part of town and 30 minutes from the base, but that time really adds up.

For this reason, we've really taken advantage of online shopping since we've been here. Amazon Prime Pantry is my favorite way to stock up on necessities just because the prices are the same as they are at the stores around here and shipping is $5 a box. It's a big box and fits lots of stuff. And if it means I don't have to remember to stop for paper towels, I'll gladly wait a couple of days for the order. With the remodel and dogs, we go through a lot of paper towels.

There's two malls in Colorado Springs and neither are anything write home about. There's some outlets about an hour north of here and they look to be pretty fantastic from the highway. I haven't had a chance to actually stop. I haven't really had time. However, I do have a computer and a credit card, so I've ordered from Bath and Body Works and J.Crew Outlet and Macy's in the last few weeks. It's worth it to pay $5-10 in shipping, opposed to driving somewhere and browsing and maybe buying. Scott and I agree on this. Plus, there's almost always an online coupon I can use: Buy 2, Get One Free at BBW, 30% off at J.Crew. I was ready to pay full price at macys.com the other day, and a "20% off!" promotion popped right up. So, definitely worth paying a few dollars in shipping.

I've also taken to stopping at Safeway if I need something instead of going to Wal-Mart. Why? Well, the milieu and and overall aesthetics of Safeway are slightly more pleasing than that of Wal-Mart. Actually, the milieu of a gas station would win in a contest against Wal-Mart. Yesterday, I probably spent ten extra dollars by going to Safeway instead of Wal-Mart but, after school on a Thursday, that's a price I'm willing to pay. SuperTarget is also a good option for groceries if I'm in that part of town because their prices are the same as Wal-Mart and better than Safeway. What I'm trying to say is that I'm avoiding Wal-Mart at all costs from here on out. Because their prices aren't that good and if we're not going there for low prices, what are we going there for? Exactly.

14 comments:

Ugh yes. To all of this. In CLT everything I'd ever need was either right there in a 5 mile radius of my home, or on my way to or from work. Now? I think long and hard about how much toothpaste I can REALLY get out of that tube before having to make a trip. And then I consider my needs very carefully, and make a decision: dollar general, food lion, or walmart. All of which make me want to shoot my left foot off just to have something better to do. I've taken to online shopping, and I was NEVER AN ONLINE SHOPPER!

I have a Target one mile from me. We have the same grocery chain on two different corners, six miles from me. I have no excuse, but I still sometimes pay for convenience, lol. If I were you, I'd definitely make it more about convenience depending on what it was.

I am definitely all about the convenience. I feel like people usually don't put a value on their own time. We are especially the same way with milk... it's not worth a 15 minutes drive each way to buy the cheaper milk... the gas alone will make up the difference!

I used to be more about the dollar here or there. Ever since I switched from a five minute commute each way to an hour plus six years ago, I know that my time is much more valuable and worth the $ - for shipping to cut out an errand, to pay the higher price if the store is on my way home, etc.

I feel the same way. The commissary is 20-25 minutes away, and I despise WalMart. I refuse to go there unless I have to. As soon as I try to find a parking spot I'm already stressed out. There's a SuperTarget right down the street from where we live, so that's where I get almost everything except for meat.

Oh my gosh yes to all what you said about walmart. I do 99% of my shopping there but I'll avoid going at any cost. I have to go Sunday and I'm dreading it!! 1 hour for shopping...40 minute check out. WHY do they not teach them how to check and bag at the same time?

And considering the cost of driving these days, probably at least some of the time when you pay for shipping it evens out or is less than the gas you would have spent driving! I love the color of that purse!

I find the prices online are often so much better than in-store (like that awesome 20% off)! I am guilty of buying that extra thing I didn't need to get to the $50 or $100 free shipping target but I totally get sucked in to convenience over cost. We have a little private grocery store 2 minutes from our house that is all organic and expensive and I will stop there for food after work rather than go to the cheaper grocery store every time!

COnvenience has become much more important since Kev deployed, and especially when the kids weren't in school. Oh Hellllls no am I driving 20 minutes with 3 kids to the commissary for a 'big' trip, which means I have to drive 20 minutes home and find a way to put all the groceries away with 3 kids. The Safeway a mile from our house, with little trips 2-3 times a week made my life SO much easier. Probably costs more in the long run, but my sanity is intact!